Eric Zivian was born in Michigan and grew up in Toronto, Canada, where he
attended the Royal Conservatory of Music. After receiving a diploma there, he
left home at age fifteen to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, where he
received a Bachelor of Music degree. He went on to receive graduate degrees from
the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music.

He studied piano with Gary
Graffman and Peter Serkin and composition with Ned Rorem, Jacob Druckman, and
Martin Bresnick. He attended the Tanglewood Music Center both as a performer and
as a composer.

Mr. Zivian has given solo recitals in Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, and the
San Francisco Bay Area. He has played concertos with the Toronto Symphony
Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the
Portland Baroque orchestra.

Since 2000, Mr. Zivian has performed extensively on original instruments. He is
a member of the Zivian-Tomkins Duo, a
fortepiano-cello duo that has performed throughout the United States. He is also
a member of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and has performed with the Empyrean
Ensemble and Earplay. He is a frequent guest artist on the San Francisco
Conservatory's faculty chamber music series.

Mr. Zivian's compositions have been performed widely in the United States and in
Tokyo, Japan. He was awarded an ASCAP Jacob Druckman Memorial Commission to
compose an orchestral work, Three Character Pieces, which was premiered by the
Seattle Symphony in March 1998.